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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
are such all over the world to-day, and the amenities of life in Hong Kong are so much greater than they were say thirty years ago, that such a policy would not result, as might be feared, in discouraging the right type of young man from joining. I am confident that on this much more economical basis, which would mean a saving both in actual pay and in passages, there would still be eager seekers after posts from the ranks of those who have spent their youth here and are the product of our local schools.
So much for our ordinary Budget. On the subject of the War Budget I am, like the rest of my unofficial colleagues, strongly opposed to the proposed taxation of incomes for reasons which I shall give later. Before doing so, however, let me make it clear that, as in the case of my colleagues, my objections do not arise from self-interest. Nor are they voiced on behalf of the Portuguese community. From the personal standpoint, indeed, few measures could be more welcome- it is obvious that the legal profession stands to gain considerably from its introduction, lawyers probably coming next after chartered accountants as persons whose assistance must of necessity invoked by the taxpayer, whether he be willing or loth to pay. Were I actuated by selfishness, therefore, I would urge its immediate adoption. As for my community, so far as I can judge from a preliminary examination of the draft bill, the scale upon which it is proposed to base the tax, together with the numerous allowances, ensures that few will be hard hit, apart altogether from the fact that we desire, as does everyone who has enjoyed the protection of the English flag and the privileges of living within the Empire, to help as much as we can in this War.
The novel arrangement of the interposition of the Honourable the Financial Secretary's speech between those of Unofficials and with it his invitation for a rejoinder call for a reply to his arguments by those following him. Some of his remarks make it clear that he is enamoured of the measure. He talks about the beauties of the tax. We on our part regard it as his ugly duckling and, if I may be permitted to mix my similes, metaphors and proverbs rather thoroughly, we think it is not only an ugly duckling but a vicious one which may well attack and injure the Hon. Mr. M. K. Lo's goose that lays the golden eggs. The points made by the Financial Secretary art numerous, and to deal with each of them would necessitate more time than the circumstances allow of. But it must not be supposed that, because I do not reply to them, I accept his arguments. I think it would be better to confine myself to my main objections to the tax.
I object to this proposed tax, Sir, for three reasons. The first is the attendant danger, already mentioned, of the flight of capital from this Colony. While not convinced that this is the inevitable result of income tax, I am nevertheless certain that it is a danger well within the bounds of possibility, and once this is admitted, and it cannot be denied, then there can be no question but that a measure involving this risk is one that should be resorted to only when all other means of raising money have been tried and found wanting.
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